Jeff Mitchell / Under the Dome: Business leaders to talk about homelessness

Oldtown group first to hold public meeting on vexing social problem

Dec. 5, 2012

Written by

Senior Writer

I applaud the Oldtown Salinas Association for jumping into the fray on the homelessness problem that plagues downtown.

I’m hoping some interest and urgency will be injected into resolving what is clearly an escalating and sad issue for Salinas.

The OSA plans to sponsor a community meeting on the issue at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 13, and you’re invited to attend. It will be at the City Hall Rotunda Building, 200 Lincoln Ave.

I’m hoping council members Jyl Lutes and Steve McShane will be able to report on what the city and county might be able to do — jointly — in the next few weeks. The idea of a winter shelter being established has been discussed, and I hope it is pursued. It is the next logical step.

While it’s clearly not a long-term solution, a joint city-county winter shelter would be a good start.

We need to get these folks off the street and give them some hot food. We need to get them into clean, dry clothes and into the care of physicians, drug counselors and other social service providers.

Long term, the manifold issues that surround homelessness must be tackled. It will take determined political leadership and a lot of money. That’s just the way it is — there’s no getting around it.

The sooner we all wake up and start addressing the problem, the closer we will be to fixing one of our city’s most vexing social problems.

Last audience with his mayor-ness

So just in case you didn’t spring for the $175-a-piece tickets to honor departing Mayor Dennis Donohue at last Friday’s Salinas Valley Leadership Group’s fete, you’ll have another chance to take in his oratorical greatness on Dec. 14.

Starting at 11 a.m. inside of Theater One at the Maya Cineplex at 153 Main St., you can listen to Donohue’s voice and view his animated hand gestures as he delivers a “Farewell Address” to the public and his adoring minions.

It was inside that very movie theater in February that Donohue shocked the local political world by announcing he would not seek re-election to office after completing this his third, two-year term.

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The consensus reaction around City Hall that Donohue was going to give a formal going-away speech was one of shock.

The shock then gave way to a mumbled ‘Oh, brother,’ which was then followed by a lot of eye-rolling.

I think it will be interesting to hear what he has to say. As a student of politics, I always find it fascinating to watch a good practitioner spin some revised history.

If nothing else, you can’t argue with the price of admission — free.

Donohue, no doubt, will get another speaking bite at the apple at the Dec. 18 City Council meeting.

For on that day, even with Mayor-elect Joe Gunter waiting in the wings to take the oath of office, it will be just too hard for Donohue to leave the dais without first pontificating a little more about something.

SRP lawsuit goes forward

But while Donohue will be absent from the Rotunda after the 18th, I suspect we’ll continue to see his name in the headlines.

One issue that will continue to haunt him and the Salinas body politic is the outcome of the Salinas Renaissance Partners lawsuit.

Astute readers will recall that SRP — controlled by father-and-son developers Bob and Curtis Leidig — planned a large-scale redevelopment of the city’s downtown area under contract with the city.

They claim Donohue intentionally ditched them in favor of the job going to friends — violating an exclusive negotiating agreement period in the process.

The City Council removed itself from the partnership with the Leidigs in 2009, claiming the the company had lost its financing for the project (a claim the Leidigs dispute). A year later they filed lawsuit.

Earlier this year, SRP’s attorney, Bob Rosenthal of Monterey, filed a successful motion to pull out Donohue as a separate defendant to explain his role in the case.

Oh, and by the way, the city — meaning you, the taxpayers — is picking up Donohue’s legal bills.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday morning in Department 14 at the Monterey courthouse.

Stay tuned.

Fighting hunger in Salinas

The Californian’s Sprint to Holidays canned food drive has all the indications of making a real dent in hunger right here in Salinas, and we appreciate your help!

So, please keep on raiding that pantry and keep bringing those canned and non-perishable food items down to our lobby at 123 W. Alisal St. You’ll like the way it makes you feel.

Questions? Call Catherine Boswell at 831-754-4101.

Jeff Mitchell covers Salinas City Hall and local politics. Send tips or story ideas by email to: jemitchell@theCalifornian.com; or by phone: 831-754-4281. He can be heard live on the air Fridays at 8:10 a.m. on KION 1460-AM and KION 101.1-FM. You also can follow Under the Dome on Twitter at twitter.com/CalUnderTheDome